Our brothers Stephen Cantwell and Anthony Rivera (along side our Provincial Minister, Tom Betz, OFM Cap.) have now, officially, added "OFM Cap." to their names. On Saturday, July 18th, the two men professed their vows to "follow the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" in the footprints of St. Francis of Assisi. They spent the past year as "novices:" they received the habit and spent time in work, discernment, formation and prayer. Br. Steve and Br. Tony will now move on to our friary in Washington, DC, to join the other brothers in initial formation. Their "post-novitiate" is a time of more focused study while living in fraternity to prepare for ministry in the Church.
The Profession Mass and following luncheon were limited to the friars, new postulants and the immediate family of the friars being professed. Absent the fraternal greeting and the offertory procession, the festivities were still able to clock in at about 90 minutes, and many friars who had not yet seen our new buildings at the motherhouse complex were able to get a sense of the magnitude of the changes on 37th and Butler Streets in Pittsburgh, PA, our Provincial center.
Congratulations and a promise of prayers go out to our newest friars!
You can see all of the photos in our online gallery.